Before I Do
by kurgaya
Summary: IchiHitsu - oneshot/drabble - They both knew it was going to be fine, they just needed a little reassurance sometimes.


**Notes: **Did you miss me? I've got one more exam (on Tuesday) and then I'm _all done_, but I thought I'd upload this now :) I do have another little oneshot to upload, but you'll have to wait till tomorrow for that one~

Again, big thanks for **Yellta **for helping me with this. I hope you enjoy!

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**Before I Do**

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"I don't know if I can do this," Ichigo mumbled honestly, wincing as Yuzu began to attack his hair with a comb. He was sat in front of a tall, thin mirror, so it was easy for him to see his little sister's scowl. "I don't know if I'm ready," he added quickly, before she could begin her lecture. "What if it all goes horribly wrong?"

"_Onii-chan_," Yuzu sighed, her eyes softening as she ripped through a tough knot in his hair, though accidentally or to express her irritation, Ichigo wasn't sure. "You're being an idiot."

That managed to draw a laugh out of him, but his sweaty hands quickly returned to his lap to pick his nails in anxiety. "Stop doing that," Yuzu said, waving the comb threateningly at him, watching him from over his shoulder. "And you'll be fine Ichigo - do you remember how nervous Renji was at his wedding?"

The laughter returned, and the grin remained on the groom's face even as the conversation continued. "I was almost at the point of carrying him down the isle!" Ichigo exclaimed. "Rukia probably wouldn't have been very - no wait, forget Rukia, _Byakuya would have been pissed_!"

Yuzu rolled her eyes and gave up with taming her brother's hair. She placed the comb down on the nearby table and asked him to stand up so that she could double-check his kimono. "It all worked out in the end," she said, scanning her eyes and hands over Ichigo's pristine clothing. "And today will work out perfectly too."

She smiled up at him in a way that made his heart melt as she stepped back to examine him from a distance. "Oh, you look so _wonderful _Onii-chan. Karin'll probably be here in a minute, I can't wait to see her reaction!"

Pleased that he passed his sister's test, Ichigo let out a sigh of relief. He had been getting ready for his wedding for two hours now, and it had only taken him ten minutes to get into his kimono. His various female friends (and his family) had insisted that he stay in one of the large, more unused rooms in the Kuchiki Manor, that Byakuya had kindly allow them to borrow for the preparations, because _he __wasn't allowed to see his __fiancé _before the wedding began, despite having woken up next to the man this morning. It was a tradition that Ichigo hadn't really wanted to keep, but arguing with Yuzu and Rukia was asking for a death-wish so he had wisely remained silent.

"Looking good Ichi-nii."

Karin was standing in the doorway, already wearing her dark green kimono. Her silky black hair was pinned up in the most extravagant fashion, and Ichigo wondered how exactly she had managed it as she wandered further into the room looking impressed.

"You've done a good job with him, Yuzu," Karin said to her beaming sister. "I'm glad he isn't so much of a lost cause as we had first thought."

"Hey!" Ichigo cried, mildly insulted at the jab. "If you were so worried about me, where have you been all morning? You could have stayed and helped 'tidy me up'!"

Yuzu huffed from the other side of the room and Karin just sent him a cocky smile.

"I've been busy checking over the guests and stuff," the dark haired twin said. "Things are looking great out in the garden - I knew it had been a good idea to let Rukia and Byakuya handle the decorations. I saw Renji and Shuuhei about ten minutes ago with Unohana-taicho, and dad's wandering around somewhere."

She was standing directly in front of him now, and even having lived for a few hundred years she was still almost a foot shorter than him. "You've got this bit of hair by the way," she said, reaching up and tucking a loose strand of his vibrant shoulder length hair behind his ear. "Hey Yuzu, you got any hair clips?"

Ichigo immediately backed away. "Hell no, you're _not_ putting clips in my hair."

It only took a little effort from Karin and a well-timed puppy dog eyes look from Yuzu to have the offending clip slipped into his hair, and the twins both smiled at him as he frowned. "Don't touch it," Yuzu snapped, slapping his wrist when he reached up to try and remove it. "Trust me, you'll forget it's there in a couple of minutes, just put up with it for a moment."

He stuck his tongue out at her. This earned him another slap on the wrist, but this time from Karin.

A knock on the door distracted the siblings from their squabble, and Isshin stuck his head into the room just a second later. Ichigo had expected his father to have all kinds of expressions on his face - wonder, happiness, craziness - but concern and desperation was not on that list. Yuzu's cheery welcome was cut off when she noticed it too, and Karin blurted out what they were all thinking;

"Dad? What's wrong?"

Isshin glanced from Karin, to Ichigo, and then over to Yuzu, before deciding that he wasn't going to be able to talk to one of them privately without alarming the others. "Ichigo, we need to get you outside. Karin, Yuzu, Rangiku's having a little trouble with Tōshirō at the moment, can you come help?"

"What's wrong with him?" Ichigo snapped, ignoring the fact that his father had not addressed him with this concern. "Is he okay?"

The sisters shared a look. "Son," Isshin continued, motioning the taicho over. "You're expected at the alter in five, let's go."

Ichigo remained exactly where he was, though he crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. "_Tell me dad_," he hissed in a warning tone. "Or I swear to God I'll go and find him myself, and you won't be able to stop me."

Isshin actually grinned at this, as if he had expected nothing less. "Yes, yes, Ichigo, but we really need to get moving. Yuzu and Karin will be able to handle the situation fine - "

He scampered out of the way as the legendary taicho of the fifth division stormed across the room, glaring thunder at the place where his father just stood. Yuzu hurried out after him, calling for him to stop, and that he was going to break the rules if he didn't turn around right now, but Ichigo just continued on down the corridor without looking back.

Something was wrong with his fiancé. Something was wrong with _Tōshirō_. It was their wedding day - there shouldn't be anything wrong! (Not that he was blaming Tōshirō for whatever had been messed up - the petite man was probably just as nervous as he was).

Ichigo stopped so abruptly in the corridor that Yuzu almost walked into the back of him. Karin and Isshin stopped a few paces behind, having followed him all through Kuchiki Manor without saying a word, and as Ichigo turned to face them, they gazed expectantly at him.

"Tōshirō's... having second thoughts isn't he...?"

"No, no!" Isshin assured, waving his hands about dramatically as his two daughters both sucked in a shocked breath. "He's just having a very bad case of nerves!"

Ichigo stared at him in doubt, and then spun on his heels and returned to stalking down the corridors.

Rangiku, it seemed, had anticipated his arrival. Whether this was due to her woman's intuition, or her having been the one to send Isshin on the errand (or perhaps she had felt Ichigo's buzzing spiritual energy all the way from across the other side of the building) but either way she opened the door for him without a complaint. He thanked her quickly and led his family into the room.

It only took him a second to locate his husband-to-be.

Tōshirō, looking the picture of misery, was curled up in the corner with his head in his hands. His fancy hair-do was only half complete, so the part that wasn't tucked away by the sparkling pins and slides was draped over his face, shadowing his expression. However, Ichigo could read his partner's emotions from just the way he held himself, so he knew to approach quietly and seriously due to the fact that the long-lived taicho of the tenth was currently feeling _embarrassed_. He slid down the wall and held his legs against his chest with one arm, and the other he wrapped around his partner's shoulders.

"I'm not meant to see you before the wedding you know," he said lightly, ignoring the spectators on the opposite side of the room.

"I'm sorry," Tōshirō mumbled, shifting so that he was cuddling into Ichigo's body. Ichigo didn't comment on this shy behaviour, instead he squeezed the other's shoulder and planted a kiss in the unruly mop of white hair.

"Don't be," he said firmly, smiling despite it not being seen by his fiancé. "But we still have time to cancel the wedding if you want."

("No you don't!" cried Rangiku from across the room)

Tōshirō let out an amused huff at his fukutaicho's outraged words, and he looked up to reveal red-rimmed eyes to address her, "Don't worry, Matsumoto," he said slowly, his voice showing signs of previous sobbing. "The wedding won't be cancelled."

" -_Thank__god _for that - "

" - Ah, Tōshirō-kun! All of your make-up has run - !"

Ichigo's head snapped down in shock at Yuzu's words, but a small hand slapped across his eyes before he could see what she was talking about. "Don't look," said Tōshirō. "You can stare at me when I'm finished getting ready."

Feeling rather foolish, Ichigo decided to play along as Yuzu slipped across the room and started to fuss. "Don't I have to right to ogle at you whenever I want?"

Tōshirō clicked his tongue. "Don't be stupid. Where on earth did you get that idea from?"

More than one person in the room laughed. "Alright, alright," said Ichigo, defeated. "Just remove your hand would ya? I'll keep my eyes closed, I promise."

The cold hand pulled away a second later, and Ichigo swiftly grasped it in his own before he could lose track of it. "You still up for the honeymoon?" he asked.

"Shouldn't you be asking if I'm still up for the wedding?"

Ichigo squeezed his partner's little hand. "Rangiku'll force you to take part in the wedding even if you weren't willing," he explained, and the fukutaicho in question snorted. "But you can dump me afterwards if you want, and I'll wallow away in self-pity on my own during the honeymoon."

"You're such an idiot. I don't even know why I'm marrying you."

"Pity?" Karin suggested.

"A good laugh?" came Isshin's response.

"Cause you love me?" asked Ichigo, his voice rising teasingly at the end. "I would say because I'm great in bed, but I kinda need a second opinion on that - "

"_Onii-chan_!"

Ichigo chuckled at his sister's disapproving tone. "Sorry Yuz, couldn't help myself." He didn't sound very sorry. "So whatta ya say, Tōshirō? Why _are _you keeping me around?"

The body pressing into his side pressed that little bit closer at his words, and that was enough of an answer for Ichigo. He knew he was pushing his luck in the first place, since they were surrounded by other people and neither of them were particularly fond of public displays of affection, but he smiled and raised Tōshirō's hand to his lips to kiss his knuckles one by one, thoroughly embarrassing the male in the process.

"Ichigo," Isshin said. "We should really get moving."

"Yeah," Ichigo replied reluctantly. "Alright." He opened his eyes as he stood, accidentally catching a glimpse of Yuzu applying some sort of eye-liner to Tōshirō's face. "I'll see you in a bit, hey Tōsh?"

"Of course," said the other male from the floor with his usual clipped tone. He sounded far more relaxed than he had been a few minutes ago, and Ichigo followed his father out of the room, happy with the knowledge that whatever had been haunting his partner was now safely tucked away in the back of his mind, out of the way until they were ready to talk about it later that night.

He grinned the rest of the way to the garden. The wedding was going to go off without a hitch, he was sure.

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**End Notes:** Please review? See you all tomorrow with another oneshot!


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